JUST PLAIN SEXIST: Letterman’s Top Ten on Nancy Pelosi
The sexist treatment of Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi continued this week on The Late Show with David Letterman. On Tuesday, Letterman’s “Top Ten” list was entitled “Top Ten Signs There's Trouble In The Democratic Party.” While the majority of the list took humorous jabs at the Democrats’ struggles during the midterm election season, the “joke” referencing Nancy Pelosi stood out from the rest:
Top Ten Signs There's Trouble In The Democratic Party
10. Obama's slogan "Yes We Can" changed to "Thought We Could"
9. Joe Biden asked to see the president's birth certificate
8. Only running campaign commercials in Mexico
7. Their top adviser -- the "rent is too damn high" guy
6. They got a "Hang in there" text from Brett Favre
5. Gave up campaigning to go see "Jackass 3-D"
4. Replaced old playbook with "They call me Baba Booey" by Gary Dell'Abate
3. Only cheered up by Barney Frank's hilarious Buddy Hackett impression
2. Nancy Pelosi found in hotel room drunk and naked with Charlie Sheen
1. Even Fox News feel sorry for them
Not only does this line make light of an sexually violent real life incident in which a woman was allegedly held against her will, Speaker Pelosi is singled out as the only Democrat on the list portrayed in a demeaning, sexualized manner. We’ve repeatedly seen Pelosi cast as the shrill, emasculating “witch” character, and now Letterman’s viewers are offered yet another sexist trope – Pelosi as the drunk, naked “slut.” Constantly reducing one of the nation’s top female politicians to a series of sexist stereotypes is not merely late night humor – it degrades and objectifies women in positions of power, and contributes to the hostile media climate that keeps women from running for office.
Published by Kate McCarthy on 10/28/2010